Northern Ireland: Children's Fund

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why the Northern Ireland Executive Programme Fund for Children has been stopped; and what arrangements are to be put in its place.

Baroness Amos: Funding for the Children's Fund has not been stopped. Resources previously allocated to projects remain allocated to those projects. In the draft priorities and budget the proposed allocation to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety includes £9.5 million and £5.4 million in 2005–06 and 2006–07 respectively, for projects under the Children's Fund.

Northern Ireland Events Company

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What assessment they have made of the activities of the Northern Ireland Events Company since its creation.

Baroness Amos: An evaluation of the achievements and considerations for the future of the Northern Ireland Events Company was carried out in 2000. A further review was carried out in 2003. Both reviews recognised the importance of events to Northern Ireland and the contribution of the Northern Ireland Events Company. The 2003 review pointed out that the full potential for an events strategy was not being realised due to the lack of a coherent integrated events and tourism strategy. Excellent Events now features as one of the five winning themes within the NITB Tourism in Northern Ireland strategic framework for action 2004–07. Ongoing discussions about the future arrangements for events are taking place with DETI and NITB.

Northern Ireland: Planning Applications

Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many planning applications for developments at Sprucefield near Lisburn in Northern Ireland they have received; and when they expect to be able to announce their decisions.

Baroness Amos: In relation to Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn there are three current planning applications for development. Consideration of the applications is ongoing and it is not possible at this stage to be precise about a timescale for the determination of these applications, but each application will be dealt with as expeditiously as possible.
	The Planning Service is also considering four applications seeking to amend or vary conditions to existing planning permissions.

Northern Ireland: Teachers

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many Catholic and Protestant teachers are employed in (a) Catholic maintained schools; and (b) all other schools.

Baroness Amos: The Department of Education in Northern Ireland does not hold statistical information on the religious breakdown of teachers employed in schools. The various employing authorities that are responsible for employing teachers hold this information. However, the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many cases for prosecution of police officers have been referred to the Northern Ireland Director of Public Prosecutions by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman during each year since her appointment; how many referrals have been rejected by the Director of Public Prosecutions during each year; how many cases are still pending; and how many cases have failed during each year.

Baroness Amos: The Police Ombudsman's Office has advised the following information:
	Cases referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions:
	
		
			 Year 
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 78 
			 2002–03 184 
			 2003–04 179 
			 2004–05 (to date) 39 
			 Total 475 
		
	
	Cases where action was recommended by the Police Ombudsman:
	
		
			 Year 
			 2000–01 0 
			 2001–02 12 
			 2002–03 16 
			 2003–04 10 
			 2004–05   (to date) 6 
			 Total 44 
		
	
	In the cases referred for action, the DPP has recommended prosecution in 18 cases, no prosecution in 10 cases and all others await direction. In the cases that have been to court four have resulted in conviction, all in the last year; five have resulted in no conviction. The DPP has also directed prosecution in three cases where the Police Ombudsman had not recommended prosecution.

Northern Ireland: Decommissioning

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What quantity and type of weaponry will need to be decommissioned by the Irish Republican Army in order that the acts of completion are concluded.

Baroness Amos: The Independent International Commission on Decommissioning is the body responsible for overseeing decommissioning of paramilitary weaponry. The Prime Minister has stated clearly that all arms must be put beyond use through the IICD. The Government are actively working to create the conditions where complete decommissioning can take place.

HIV/AIDS: Developing Countries

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What success they have had in persuading the governments of middle-income developing countries to give higher priority to the needs of orphans and street children, including those at risk from drugs, prostitution, trafficking, and HIV/AIDS.

Baroness Amos: Orphans and vulnerable children are a high priority for DfID. We are particularly concerned with support for children who are affected by AIDS or infected with HIV in Africa, where the situation in the worst affected countries is reaching crisis level, but are also concerned to step up our work in Asia.
	DFID has endorsed the UNICEF Strategic Framework for the Protection, Care and Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living in a World with HIV and AIDS. This sets out comprehensive guidance for countries to use in developing national policies and programmes to respond to the needs of vulnerable children, including orphans, street children and those at risk from drugs, prostitution, trafficking and HIV and AIDS. It therefore provides a good basis for discussing policy with partner governments.
	In 2004, we saw significant progress in a number of African middle-income countries in developing comprehensive, costed national action plans to address the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children. These are Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, which are among the worst AIDS-affected countries in the world and the number of vulnerable children is growing alarmingly. DfID will be stepping up its support to these countries through multilateral channels and UNICEF in particular. DfID will also be providing support to Botswana to assist in developing and implementing its national action plan.
	Brazil is giving high priority to meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable children in integrated programmes in all regions. These include measures to support access to education and health services.
	DfID has had less success in Russia. Despite providing the majority of support to harm-reduction activities over the past five years, we have had relatively little success at the federal level in promoting a favourable policy environment for vulnerable young people at risk from drugs.

Northern Ireland: Freedom of Information

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the six cross-border implementation bodies will be subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and whether the domestic legislation of both states with regard to freedom of information will apply.

Baroness Amos: The six North/South Implementation bodies were established by an international agreement between the British and Irish Governments, and are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or the equivalent legislation in the Republic of Ireland.
	However, the Implementation Bodies Agreement 1999 provides that a code of practice on access to information held by the bodies will be drawn up by the Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers with responsibility for freedom of information for approval by the North/South Ministerial Council. That code is in preparation.

Northern Ireland: Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Lord Smith of Clifton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the total number of recorded instances of sexually transmitted diseases in Northern Ireland for each of the years 2000 to 2004; and what is the number for each year for each parliamentary constituency.

Baroness Amos: The total number of recorded instances of sexually transmitted diseases in Northern Ireland is shown in the table below for the years 2000 to 2004. Information is not recorded according to parliamentary constituency.
	
		
			 Year Number of instances of sexually transmitted diseases 
			 2000 10,139 
			 2001 10,208 
			 2002 10,782 
			 2003 10,470 
			 2004* 5,188 
		
	
	Notes:
	The number of instances of sexually transmitted diseases is measured according to the number of attendances at Genito-Urinary medicine clinics.
	*Information for 2004 is for 1 January–30 September only, and is provisional.

Incitement to Religious Hatred

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will publish in the Official Report the note by the Attorney-General on the exercise of his powers under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986 dealing with incitement of religious hatred.

Lord Goldsmith: There is no note by the Attorney-General on the exercise of his powers under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986 dealing with incitement to religious hatred. There was only an early draft of a note produced for the purposes of debate on such a proposed offence. A Written Ministerial Statement relating to the proposed offence in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill was published by the Home Secretary on 7 December 2004 and was agreed by me.

Anti-social Behaviour Orders

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they propose to take to lessen the disruption caused to families and to the welfare of individuals when anti-social behaviour orders prevent individuals from visiting close relatives or gaining access to medical services.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: It is for the courts to decide what prohibitions should be set out in the ASBO. The conditions should be reasonable and proportionate but protect all persons within a defined area from the anti-social acts of the defendant. The conditions are proposed to the court by the applicant agency and care should be taken to the formulation of the conditions so that individuals are not denied access to medical services or from visiting relatives, unless those relatives were party to the anti-social behaviour and the community needs further protection from their association. Local partnership working should ensure that the prohibitions set out in an ASBO application are workable and appropriate. Individuals may apply to discharge or vary the conditions of their ASBO.

Alcohol: Under-age Drinking

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In the light of the recently published studies indicating that the United Kingdom has the highest rate of teenage drinking in Europe, what plans they have to target this age group in their current campaign against binge drinking.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The Government are working with the police and the alcohol industry to prevent the sale of alcohol to, and the purchase of alcohol by under-18s. This includes the wider use of fixed penalty notices for staff who sell to under-18s, confiscation of alcohol from minors and working with the industry on a social responsibility scheme which will include a protocol around seeking proof of age. A Christmas alcohol misuse enforcement campaign is also under-way in all 43 police force areas in England and Wales. Town centres across the country are being targeted in an effort to crack down on under-age drinking and alcohol-fuelled crime and disorder.
	The Government also acknowledge that enforcement alone is not sufficient to tackle these problems and that a more holistic approach to tackling the misuse of alcohol is needed if we are to challenge current attitudes to drinking. That is why we launched the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England on 15 March 2004 which outlines a programme of work based on 41 recommendations covering actions on prevention, communication, education, and identification and treatment to tackle alcohol misuse and ensure that both consumers and retailers have a healthy and responsible attitude to alcohol.

School Sport Partnerships

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many schools were in a school sport partnership for the two years since 2003–04; and what are the targets for each year until 2007–08.

Lord Filkin: The numbers and projected numbers, of schools within school sport partnerships in England for the years in question are as follows:
	
		
			  
			 September 2003 8,030 schools 
			 September 2004 10,750 schools 
			 September 2005 15,900 schools 
			 September 2006 all maintained schools will be within a school sport partnership.

Sports Colleges

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many specialist sports colleges there were in the two years since 2003–04; and what are the targets for each year until 2007–08.

Lord Filkin: There were 228 specialist sports colleges in operation from September 2003 and 283 from September 2004. Subject to sufficient high quality applications coming forward, we are on target to achieve the designation of 400 specialist sports colleges by January 2006. Beyond then, any school which applies for specialist sports college status will be designated, subject to them meeting the standard for designation.

Sports Colleges

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How much funding was made available for specialist sports colleges from the physical education, school sport and club links budget head for the two years since 2003–04; and what is the projected budget for each year until 2007–08.

Lord Filkin: Funding made available for specialist sports colleges from the physical education, school sport and club links budget was £32.3 million for 2003–04 and £38.5 million for 2004–05. Future funding for specialist sports colleges will depend upon the number of schools designated. Sufficient funding has been set aside to ensure that all schools applying for sports college status which meet the standards for designation will be designated.

Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links Budget

Lord Moynihan: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What percentage of the physical education, school sport and club links budget head was spent on administration in 2003–04; and what percentage is expected to be spent in 2004–05 and 2005–06.

Lord Filkin: The information requested is not available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Department for Education and Skills: Sick Leave

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many days' sick leave were taken in the past year by staff in the Department for Education and Skills; and how this compares with other government departments.

Lord Filkin: The Department for Education and Skills is fully committed to managing its sickness absence effectively and to reducing the amount of sickness absence from its current levels. We have introduced specific strategies to improve attendance rates and tackling the underlying issues causing sickness.
	10.3 working days were lost through sickness absence for each staff year in the department in 2003. The average across the Civil Service was 10.0 days.

Department for Education and Skills: Ministerial Changes

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What costs were incurred by the Department for Education and Skills as a result of the recent ministerial changes in the department.

Lord Filkin: Overall there have been no additional costs incurred by the DfES to date as a result of the recent ministerial changes in the department.

Squirrels

Earl Peel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Given that Article 8H of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Article 11 of the Berne Convention states that member states should eradicate or contain those alien species threatening biodiversity, what action they intend to take in order to comply with these articles in relation to the grey squirrel.

Lord Whitty: Article 11 of the Berne Convention requires contracting parties to control strictly the introduction of non-native species. But grey squirrels have been present in Great Britain since the end of the 19th century and were already widespread by the time the UK ratified the convention in 1982.
	Article 8(h) of the Convention on Biological Diversity indicates that contracting parties should "as far as possible and as appropriate . . . " prevent the introduction of, control and eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats and species. Decision VI/23, agreed at the sixth conference of the parties to CBD, recommended that parties incorporate invasive alien species considerations into national biodiversity strategies and action plans. The most serious impact of the grey squirrel on native biodiversity is covered in the species action plan for the red squirrel. Targeted control of grey squirrels to protect threatened populations of red squirrels is part of the recommended actions of the UK Red Squirrel Group, set up as a partnership to lead the species action plan.

A34

Lord Bradshaw: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their estimate of the cost to the national and local economy of the traffic accident on the A34 near Oxford on 14 December.

Lord Davies of Oldham: While it is not possible to provide an accurate estimate of the cost to the national and local economy of the traffic accident on the A34 near Oxford on 14 December, using the Department for Transport's transport analysis guidance it is estimated that the cost of delays to the travelling public on the A34 was approximately £250,000.

A13

Lord Marlesford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they intend to raise the present 40 miles per hour speed limits on the new six-lane dual carriageway sections of the A13 to 50 miles per hour; and, if not, what are their reasons.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The new six-lane dual carriageway sections of the A13 are inside London and form part of the Greater London Authority road network — now known as the Transport for London road network — and are the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London. This includes the setting of speed limits. Further information concerning the speed limits on the road may be obtained from:
	Keith Ollier
	Director of Street Management
	Transport for London
	Windsor House
	42-50 Victoria Street
	London SW1H 0TL

Cabinet Committee on Public Health

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Who are the members of the Cabinet Committee on Public Health; how often it meets; what is its remit; and whether a summary of the discussions at these meetings is available to the public.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: As the Prime Minister announced to Parliament on 18 November 2004, (Official Report, col. 105 WS) the current list of Cabinet committees, their membership and terms of reference are available in the Libraries of both Houses and on the Cabinet Office website. The terms of reference of the Ministerial Committee on Public Health (MISC 27) are:
	"To oversee the development and implementation of the Government's policies on public health and reduce health inequalities."
	We do not disclose information relating to the proceedings of the Cabinet and its committees.